Skewer.



` UNITED s rAirEs PATENT oEEIoE.

GEORGE L. STARK, or merma@ ALBERT w. BAXTER, or Los ANGELES,

- cemronnm To allwmm it may Be it known that we,GEoncn L, STARK andiALBERT W.'l 3exrnn, citizens of 'the United .States, residlng,respectively, at H ydep'ark igfgme'l s and 'more particularly bellies ofbacon, when being object lofthe invention is to provide latercuredEandthe rincipal ally yielding'teeth or engaging means which #are adaptedto be automatically moved in- 'ward by the meat supported `thereon asthe meat gradually shrinks in being cured.

each '29 for supporting means of the skewer with the 'freeends projtingsubstantially parallel Y gagged-by the meat when Ythe latterv is zuAnother object is to form the v teeth in pairs, as'by bendin thematerial from which air 1s .form at or near its middle and securing saidbent portion'to the main frame with'each other in position for beensecured ,upon the.' skewer.

-Anothen 1s to provide a device.

which'c'an be cheaply formed from material that will have the requiredstrength and rg'iclity-to cause it to retain its shape while in use, andalso while'it isbeino stored or ,handled-as whcn'it is removed vfro rnthe nieat'and thrown ,put o f the Way until it "is neededagaimm' Anotherobinojs to provide a device which will be as free as possible fromcreases or open spaces within which pieces of meat would be liable-tolodge and thereby become strong or rancid unless frequently cleaned out.

Other objects and advantagis will a pear as the construction andoperation of t einventon are hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the accompanying drawi trate different forms ofthe invention andwhich form a partof this speciication, Figi ure 1 is a er tive view-ofone form'of the inventign. splioig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of aslightly diierent'fo'rm of the 1nvention showing the same adapted forsuporting'two'piece's of ineat'instead of one.

ig. 3 is a perspective vlew ofa form similar to that shown in Fig-.Al-wlth'the lower hun oxnittedg 4 is avertil sectional ine grea and whichillus mame@ of man raient, Patented sept. 2s, 1909. anneau@ ale-aoctober as, 190B. serial No. 459,936.

view of another forni, and F ig. 5 is a.' perspectiveview of anotherforni of the device.

Referring more particularly to the drawings Which are for illustrativepurposes only and, therefore, are not drawn to any particularrscale, 1indicates .the main frame or hanger portion of our skewer to whichtheprongs or teeth 2 are secured, as will be hereinaiter more fully setforth. The

frame 1 is preferably formed from one or more metallic rods` or wires ofsufiicient size ordiameter to secure the required strength and rigidity.In Fig. l the frame is preferably of an elongated rectangle having itslower bar 3 straight and uniform from end toend, as by being made fromthe central portion of the rod or wire.. The upper part comprises twosections 4 and 4 formed from the intermediate portions of tle wire uponopposite-sides 'of the-central portion 3 and extending inward from theend portions .5 substantially to lthe middle of the, frame, where theyare twisted together in a spiral 6 with one oit' the ends, as 7, heiligshorter than the other and terminating at the upper end of the' spiralwhile the other end 8 is' extended beyond the spiral and formed into ahook or suitable suspending means 9. This f 'doubled up on 'itselfsubstantially at. its" middle and having the doubled portieri 11 Wrappedaround and secured tothe upper cross-bar of the frame in any desiredmanner, preferably by dippingV the same into melted material, as, forexample, themafetermediate portion of eachof the sides or arms 12 of theteeth is.preferably provided.

with coils or spirals 13, one being shown, .through which the lower bar3 of the frame is ladapted to be passed for holding the A'rial usedforgalranizing purposes. The intteth -ins proper position. the reeend ofeach"'tooth being preferably bent at an angle to the main portion 12 soas to project laterally trom the frame 1.' These coils fit vlooselyaround the bar 3 so that when the 40 f end teeth in case theskew'er werethrown to meat that is suspended upon thehooks or l n 1n pairs with adouble portion rigidly sepins shrinks from being cured the teeth o1'.pins will gradually Yield or spring inward toward the center oi' theskewer from both sides thereof, causing the sides or edges of the pieceof meat to be substantially straight and uniform instead of being of theoriginal width at the top and of a narrower width below, as is the casewith the ordinary style of skewer or support. Instead of providing thesides of the teeth with a coi-l asf above described, each of them can beprovided with a slight bend or recess 14, as shown in F ig. 4, whichwill he adapted to engage with the bar 3 when the hooks or teeth occupytheir normal positions, and especially when supporting a piece of meat.Instead of haring the teeth project only' from one side, whereby thedevice is only adapted for suspending-one piece of meat, the hooks orteeth can be extended from both sides, as shown in Fi 2, indicated b thefull lines 10 and the otted lines 15. ith this construct-ion the teethcan be formed as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, or part of them can be formedone way, as by providing the coil and the other side can be providedwith. the bend or recess 14;. Instead of using the lower bar 3, as abovedescribed, it may be omitted, as shown in Fig. 3, in which the wire ispreferably doubled and twisted upon itself, as shown at 16,and formedinto' a hook 17 for suspending it and the ends 18 are extended downsubstantially into alinement with the coils 13 where they terminate. Inthis construction the teeth wouldpreferably be made of heavier materialo support the load without danger of its bending down the tips andslipping oli', and the ends '18 of the frame would act as'guas'ds .orprotectors for the onevside and should happen to fall upon its end. .Butit is evident t at the teeth would yield or approach each other towardthe middle of the skewer from each end in the g same manner as thoughthe lower bar 3 were present. f 1 1 v Another form of device is shown inFig. 5 in which the'fraxn'e or supporting portion is formed from a pieceof wire doubled and twisted upon itselfat the center`to form a V spiral19 and a hook 20 similar to the s iral 16 and hookf17 of Fig. 3, but theen s of lthe laterally extending ends 21 are not bent at an angle as inSaid Fig. 3.- Tlie hooks or teeth 22 for this form of skewer aresubstan-V 'tially U-shaped with 'the bent portions partially or'w thewires 21 and secure olly wrapped tightly around thereto, as by diping'in'a suitable melted metal. In this o'rm the teeth are rigidly secured attheir y inner ends to thepwires and, therefore, are not yielding ormovable toward the center of the skewer. Y

As will be noted from the forms of teeth l shown in the drawings theyare all 'famed cured to the support or rectangular frame, and weconsider our invention broad enough to c'over either ofthe yforms of smhsecurement, as has been shown and described.

There the teeth are ed so as to yield laterally, assu all of the figuresexcept Fig. 5, the sides of thel teeth from the doubled portion 'to thelower bar or to ejp'ont in alineinent with 'the Iower ends auf the endpieces ofthe frames dii-'erge from each other, as shown in Fig. 1, andare substantially 'parallel with each othen at their lips. as in Figs. 3and 4. We El!) @Sider imt uur 4invention is broad.- enough 1,9 includeeither form of the resilit teeth, that. is to say, whetherv the innerortions di verge from each other in su stantial W shape, or aresubstantial U- pe.

As above described our im can be manufactured at but ight cost over theoriginal cost of the material and .will have great strengt-h andadaptability for use wherever such devices are r hired. They are notliable to the accumulatloniof grease or foreign substance, and can beeasily cleaned in the ordinary manner, whereby the risk of contaminationfrom rancid or impure matter can be entirely avoided.

Having described our invention we claim:

1. In a skewer, a frame, teeth secured thereto, said teeth being formedlin airs each pair of teeth comprising a pieoefof ,material bent at itsintermediate portion with its ends extending therefrom, said bent poxtion being rigidly secured to said frame, and a suspension hook on therame'at substa1`i tially right angles to \the said extending ends ofteeth. i-

2. In a meat skewer, a supporting frame, teeth rigidly securedthereto'at one portion and havlng their ends extended substantiallyparallel .with each other and in the same plane and movable laterallytoward each roved skewer arallel with eachother m other, and-a'suspension hhook on the frame tia y right angles to the said extendingends 'I 'of te th.- l

4. n a skewer, a substantially rectangular frame having one sideprovidedwith means for suspending it, teeth secured to said side andextending to and beyond the other side and bent around said latterlsidein position.'\1`80 for slidably engaging therewith, the' and! of sfudteeth extending parallel with es'ch other and in the same plane andbeing inovable toward the center of the fra-mehfrom each end. e

5. In a. skewer,^a vframe having substan- I- tially parallel sides,teeth secured to .one of f the ends of' said teeth projectin said sidesand extending across to theo po.- site side and being loosely bent arounthe latter side and capable of sliding thereon,y from the. latter sideand being substantial y at right angles to the plane of said frame.

(i. In a skewei'. a frame having two sldes,

teeth securedvto one of said sidesl and having slidabie engagement withthe other side,

said teeth being formed in pairs, ewebpair ofteeth being formed of nsingle ieee of Wire bent at the middle around t e'rsl' named side of theframe and diver-gin from said point to the other side and bein loselycoiled around the' latter side, and t e wil-cs from the latter sideextending substantially at right angles to the diverging portionsof thewires. ,t

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles,Californiu,'

this 21st day of October, 1908.

' GEORGE L. STARK.

. ALBERT NV. BAXTER.

In presence l(1f-- W. S. Born, .FRANK L. A. GRAHAM.

